Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $10,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 305.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 97,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,300,000 after acquiring an additional 73,099 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Sonoco Products by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 20,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 166,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,117,000 after buying an additional 34,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 11.7% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 73,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,995,000 after buying an additional 7,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SON. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $50.92 on Monday. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $48.22 and a twelve month high of $61.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.69.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 71.48%.

Sonoco Products Profile

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging segments. The Consumer Packaging segment offers round and shaped rigid paper, steel, and plastic containers; metal and peelable membrane ends, closures, and components; thermoformed plastic trays and enclosures; and high-barrier flexible packaging products.